Thursday, June 28, 2012

California trip to celebrate our mother's 95 th birthday

6-11-2012

4:00 AM and it’s time to get up. My bags are packed and waiting. I forgot I was not checking my bag and
security confiscated the gooseberry jam I was taking to my mother. A sympathetic TSA agent let me call Larry who
was barely past the parking lot and he returned to take the jam home. I will mail it when I return.

The flight is late leaving but it is a clear day, no rain,
no fog, no clouds, clear views, and everything far below is visible. Green fields in irregular shapes are a sharp
contrast to the inlets, canals, and waterways that glimmer and glisten with the
morning sun shining down on them. Smaller
air craft far below look like flecks of glitter when the sun bounces off their
wings. We stay clear of the no fly zone
on Whidbey Island and continue our flight south and it seemed strange not to be
preparing to land in Seattle. Snow
capped Mt. Rainer lies to the east its head covered in clouds and in the
distance you can see Mt. Adams, Mt. Saint Helens, and Mt. Hood. The fog slowly crept in as we began our
descent into Portland.

A layover in Portland and then we were off to Oakland. Somewhere below on I-5, James and Nicole are on the road headed home
to California from a week of vacation with us in Washington. I figured about the time I left Portland they
would be on the road from Eugene and we could just wave at each other. Across the aisle I can see the ocean looming
to the far horizon and to the west is farmland, hills, and more mountains. Three Sisters, Crater Lake, Mt. Shasta, Mt.
Lassen and now we are moving…moving slightly west towards the coast. I can see the Golden Gate Bridge, which
celebrated its 75th birthday this year, before flying
southeast. A one-eighty degree turn and
we were approaching Oakland.

Mary was waiting at the curb to pick me up and take me to
see mom. Jerry and Laura are staying
with mom and I am staying with Mary.

Cousins Gary and Carol arrived Tuesday from Missouri to
surprise mom. Dinner at Mary’s and lots
of catching up to do.

Cousins Joyce and Reta arrived Friday. They also live in Missouri and arrived a few
days earlier to visit cousins in Sonora.
Mom thought all the big surprises were over but this one caught her off
guard. Dinner at Mary’s again and a
chance for everyone to continue sharing family stories.

Days were spent shopping for food, decorations, and cleaning
in anticipation for our mother’s 95th birthday celebration party on
Saturday.

At 2:00 PM the guests began arriving and some brought their
desserts for the county fair themed blue ribbon prize. James and Michael cooked hotdogs and
hamburgers. Nicole and Yvette helped
with the other food items while Carol and Laura made snow cones. Kelly chased after Kyler, and Melissa chased
after Boise…that was the only job the two young moms had. Sami, Jamie, and Randy helped with the paper
cupcakes wishes and helping with any miscellaneous chores that need to be
done.

Michael and Tiffany arrived along with Michael C. and
Patty. Everyone who could come was
there. We missed the nieces and nephews
who could not attend, but you were in our hearts and we understood that it was
impossible for some to be there. Your
cupcake wishes arrived and were added to the box.

Birthday cake and candles.
No ice cream! Not because we
didn’t try. The custard base was in the refrigerator
and we tried for hours on Friday but a flaw in the design of the freezer
prevented the machine from working properly.

It was a wonderful day and mom enjoyed herself visiting with
family and friends and that was the purpose of the party.

Start planning because there will be a 100th
party in five years.

Mary, Joyce, Reta, and I joined mother for church on
Sunday. Jerry and Laura and Gary and
Carol all left early for their return drive home to Missouri and Arkansas. Kelly flew out early for Vegas to get home
and celebrate father’s day with Kyle and his dad, who flew in from Pennsylvania
for a few days.

We went out to breakfast after church and then spent a quiet
day visiting, reminiscing about family history--and several of us shut our eyes
for a few minutes.

History:

Mom had never told us she was born in Chestnut Ridge; we
grew up always hearing Ozark. We also
never knew that mom lived in Coffeeville.

Mom had a cousin who was a deputy sheriff in Coffeeville
when the Daltons and Younger’s robbed the bank.

Memories:

Uncle Ted (Lenvile Melton) ran away from home when he was
about sixteen or seventeen. He could not
be found but a letter arrived days later at my grandparent’s home saying he was
safe at my great grandma Dye’s home.

Mom had typhoid fever when she was about five and the
doctors couldn’t do anything to make her better. Dr. Steve (Stephen Melton, grandpa’s brother)
sent a bottle of medicine and mom recovered.
This was also the time, when she had to be quiet and rest, that grandma Dye taught her to quilt.

Mom’s worst memory was taking castor oil as a child and she
is happy the plant is banned in California as poisonous.

We grew up drinking sassafras tea and mom, Mary, Joyce,
Reta, and I can still smell a pot brewing on a woodstove when we mention
sassafras. The root could only be dug
during the winter months and root extracts are still safe to drink because they
do not contain safrole. File powder used
in Creole cooking is made from sassafras.

My great grandmother Dye made elderberry jelly as a cure-all
for whatever ailed you. Mom said it
wasn’t much better than castor oil. How
could anything in the family of honeysuckle be bad? I’ll make my mother’s word for it, but if you
want to know how to make your own, here is a recipe (but don’t expect to find
it in my mother’s pantry).

Elderberry Jelly

Ingredients

3-4 lbs. ripe
(not green) elderberries (after de-stemming)

¼ c. freshly
squeezed lemon juice

1 pkg. MCP
pectin

4 ½ c. white
granulated sugar

¼ tsp. butter

Rinse
elderberry clusters thoroughly. Working
over a large bowl, work on one small cluster at a time, gently raking your
fingers across the clusters to dislodge the berries from the stems. Only use berries that re completely blue or
black. Do not use green beer or
partially green berries as they are not ripe.
For each bath of jelly, collect 3 lbs. of de-stemmed elderberries and
rise again.

Place
berries in a large pot and crush with a potato masher to release some of the
juice. Turn the heat to medium and
continue to crush as the mixture heats up to a boil. Once it reach a boil, reduce the heat to a
simmer and let is simmer for 10 minutes.
Remove from heat.

Place a
large fine mesh sieve over a pot. Slowly
transfer the mashed berries and juice over the sieve to strain the juice out
into the pot. Let strain for several
hours.

To prepare
the jars for canning you will need 5-6 8 oz. canning jars and lids. Rinse the jars and place on a baking sheet,
top up, in the oven. Heat the jar for 10
minutes in a pre-heated oven at 225 degree to sterilize. To sterilize the lids, bring a kettle of a
couple of cups of water to a boil. Turn
the heat off and place the lids in the pan and let sit for 10 minutes.

You will
need 3 c. of juice to make one bath of jelly using MCP pectin (3 ¾ c. of juice
if using SureJell pectin). Extra juice
can be saved to make syrup or use for the next batch of jelly. Place 3 c. of juice into a large pan (8 qt.)
and add the lemon juice and pectin.

Bring to a
boil. Add 4 ½ c. sugar and ¼ tsp. of
butter. Stir with a wooden spoon. Bring to a boil again. Watch the pot as the mixture will foam up
considerably. As soon as the mixture
reaches a rolling boil that you cannot diminish by stirring, watch the clock
and cook for exactly 2 minutes and remove from the heat. Pour mixture into canning jars to ¼ inch of
headspace from the rim.

Wipe rims
with a damp towel. Place lids on jars
and rings to secure. If you want to
ensure a good seal and protect against mold, you can process the jars in a
water bath for 5 minutes. Put a rack on
the bottom of a large tall pot. Fill the
pot halfway with water, enough to cover the jars with two inches of water in the
pot. Bring to a boil, gently place the
jars in the pot, use jar tongs, and boil for 5 minutes and remove.

Let
cool. As the jelly cools you should hear
a popping sound as the lids seal.

Makes 5-6 8
oz. jars.

Catmint tea was another home herbal remedy.

Mother hated collard greens.

Don’t Ask Don’t Tell--or
Aiding and Abetting:

Jesse James once needed a place to stay for the night and
asked at my grandfather’s farm. He was
told there was no room in the house but could use the barn. Next morning my grandmother fixed him breakfast
and he left some money to pay for room and food.

The story doesn’t end there because years later my
grandfather was riding into town in the wagon and someone walking on the road
asked for a ride and my grandfather obliged.
When they got to Springfield someone asked my grandfather if he knew who
he had given a ride to. My grandfather
said he thought so (Jesse James) but didn’t ask.

In the hills you took care of your family, helped your
neighbors, attended church, and didn’t ask too many questions.

Monday June 18th,
my birthday. Michael called and
came to Mary’s home to visit for awhile before heading to my mom’s house. Michael will leave a little later in the day
for Washington and prepare for his journey to Thailand on Thursday. After Michael left, Mary, Mom, Reta, Joyce, and
I headed to San Francisco for the day.
Over the Bay Bridge, past Giants stadium, across the Golden Gate Bridge,
through Sausalito, around the Palace of Fine Art, a drive by the beach and a
little sand in my shoes, drove by Golden Gate Park and the zoo, and then onto
Fisherman’s Wharf for lunch We stopped
at Alioto’s and were terribly disappointed in the food. The deep fried shrimp was greasy and
flavorless. The view was great looking
at the harbor of fishing boats but that can’t make up for bad food. Alioto’s was always known as the place to go,
but it will be the last time we eat there.

After lunch we drove down Lombard St, through Little Italy,
up to Coit Tower, cruised through China Town and then headed home.

Tuesday we spent the day visiting with mom and had In-N-Out
Burgers for dinner.

Wednesday Joyce and Reta packed to fly home. We went to mom’s first and Mary bought
breakfast burritos from Mim’s. I left
later to drive to Sacramento to have dinner with James and to see his new
house. I was met by a very protective
Gabby and welcomed with a come-on-in from Tally. The house is cute and was move in ready,
complete with a pair of ducks on the front lawn. And he has lots of space
outside--an acre. When you look out at
the hills in the distance and grazing land abutting Jim’s property, you would
never know that you are minutes from a major metropolitan city. Sweet potato casserole, salad, grilled pork
tenderloin, a relaxing evening.

I go up early, June 21st, Thursday to have coffee
and finish packing. I headed out to mom’s
to visit until Mary comes to take me to the airport. Ten days is just not enough time. It’s over before it starts. Mom rode to the airport with us and after
several hugs and kisses I needed to get out before security waved their hands
at Mary one more time.

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About Me

Married to Larry and we have five kids, a son-in-law, a daughter-in-law, two grandsons, one granddaughter, and a neighborhood cat. I focus on creating art and/or teaching mixed media, paintings, shabby chic decor, paper-making, watercolors, and mosaics.
My art has sold in several states, the internet, and in my own shop.